If you follow this blog, there is a good chance that you like reading. And if you like reading, you probably love books - yes, I do consider loving books and loving to read two very different hobbies.
However, this can be a pretty expensive hobby. With paperbacks costing around £9 on average and hardbacks costing around £15, book buying can easily become an important part of your budget. Of course, I am one of those people who loves to have full bookshelves and I cannot go inside a bookshop and come out empty-handed. That being said, there are other cheaper alternatives to curate your book passion.
In today's post, I will be giving you four alternatives to book buying so that you can read as many books as you want, without spending a fortune. 1. Libraries
This first option is perfect if you read a lot of books but don't necessarily want to own all of them. There are over 3,600 public libraries in the UK, where you can find a lot of the most popular novels, as well as some great hidden gems. And the good news is, in the UK, you can borrow books for free! This makes libraries the cheapest alternative to book buying if you are an avid reader. As long as you return books on time, you will never have to pay for them.
Of course, if you are looking for a specific title, there is always a chance that the library doesn't have it, or that someone else borrowed it before you, meaning that you will need to wait for them to return it. However, there is a large selection of books there and just like in a bookshop you can always let yourself wander around, mindlessly browsing.
2. Second-hand Books
If you want to be able to own the books you read, a good solution would be to buy second-hand books. Sure, they probably won't have that pristine look, and might have broken spines or dog-eared pages (quite frankly my worst nightmare), but there is also something magical about a well-loved book. You might find special editions that you could never find anywhere else.
The good thing about second-hand books (apart from the fact that they are cheaper than new ones) is that there are many ways to find them. You can go to pretty much any charity shop and find a bookshelf full of books. If you want to be sure that there will be a good selection, you can always go to second-hand bookstores - and support your local independent shops. And of course, you can also find second-hand books online, with websites such as World Of Books (https://www.wob.com/en-gb).
This is the perfect compromise if you want to find cheaper books but still want to be able to display everything you have read. As someone who loves to be surrounded by books, this is probably my favourite alternative. Not to mention that just like there are ecological benefits to thrift shopping, the same goes for thrifting books!
3. Scribd and other e-book platforms
In my past few years as a university student, I realised how much money I actually put into school books. I’m not going to lie to you, those are very expensive, and sometimes you can spend a real fortune to find the perfect source for an assignment. My solution was to download Scribd and to get e-books instead of buying a 300 page book for a two-line sentence. This service also introduced me to audiobooks – I’d never given them a try before - and to reading on a phone or computer.
A subscription to Scribd is pretty affordable, and they usually offer a great range of e-books, audiobooks and even magazines. If you are not too bothered about not owning physical books, this is a perfect alternative. There are many services out there to get e-books, and if you would rather not read on your phone - especially because your eyes get tired way more quickly when looking ata phone screen - you can also invest in a Kindle or other e-reader.
Because the production cost for an e-book is a lot cheaper than physical books, you can get them for a lot less, so if you are an avid reader and you do not have any room to store books or money to get them this is a perfect compromise!
4. A communal bookshelf with friends
My friend and I have similar tastes in books, and a lot of our conversations revolve around the things we read. Because we recommend each other books all the time, we pretty much share our bookshelves with one another. Unless we find a perfect book that we want to have as our own, we usually browse each other's bookshelf every time we see each other. In a way, we have created a sort of communal bookshelf.
I would say that the only way that this works is if you know and trust your friend(s) and if you have similar tastes in books. I cannot tell you how many times I have let a friend borrow a book and never found it again - I even had to buy a new copy of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo because it was never returned to me!
If you know that your friend will take good care of your books, and that you will take good care of theirs, sharing a bookshelf will reduce the costs of your book buying habits by two, and you might even discover books that you never would have picked up otherwise. I hope that this list has helped you find alternatives to buying brand new books! I usually alternate between those options, and while I still spend a huge amount of money buying new books, I have found that these alternatives have helped me be more reasonable with my spending habits. Of course, there is nothing wrong with treating yourself and getting a new book next time you walk into a bookstore, but always remember there are many other alternatives!
Juliette
Writer and Interviewer
Comments